The two silver medallists approached the Italian golden girl after she’d won the giant slalom on Sunday, dropped to their knees and bowed towards her as they recognised ski racing royalty.
The 35-year-old Brignone couldn’t walk for three months early last year.
Now she is a double Olympic champion, winning again barely 72 hours after powering to the downhill title that she felt was like something out of a Hollywood movie.
She delivered quite the sequel, taking a lead of 0.34 seconds after the first run and then putting in a clean second run in gorgeous conditions in the Dolomite Mountains above Cortina.
Brignone finished 0.62 seconds ahead of defending champion Sara Hector and Thea Louise Stjernesund, who shared the silver medal.
“That was, like, the greatest show of GS skiing that we’ve had in a really long time,” said US standout Mikaela Shiffrin, who finished in 11th place.
“And to do it at the Olympics where people actually have eyes on the sport, Federica skied incredible. That was so cool to watch.”
It completes a stunning comeback for the popular Brignone, who was world champion in the GS in February last year before breaking multiple bones in her left leg in March that required surgery, a handful of screws to repair and left her unable to walk until the summer.
Before these home Games, Brignone had a silver and two bronzes at the Olympics. Now she has the big one—twice.
AAP
